Rainbow Shore

"Rainbow Shore"

Image size 6" x 36"

Encaustic

This is a series of six individual 6" x 6" cradled boards that I painted to be hung together, but they could also each be individual paintings.  I did an underpainting of a rainbow color for each one and my thought was to have them hung like you would see the colors of the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet.  

The effect isn't as strong as I intended, but I think it is still an interesting concept.  I also thought that they could be hung in a hexagonal shape as a more abstracted water painting.  I didn't have a large enough black background to take a picture, but you get the idea....

Flurry

"Flurry"

Image size 12" x 12"

Encaustic/Shellac Burn

This painting went through many different stages before this end result.  In the beginning, I was creating a lot of texture and only partially fusing each layer.  I decided that it wasn't reading the way I had hoped so I fused it all completely and added my textural look with a blue shellac burn.  I'm much happier with the outcome.  The background still has a nice feeling of texture, but with a smooth surface.

Choppy Waters

"Choppy Waters"

Image size 12" x 24"

Encaustic

I decided to make an abstracted water painting with some desaturated greens along with a small amount of blue.  I like the effect it gives the painting.  I also did some shellac burns using white and blue.  That gives such a fun textural look.

Blue Wave

"Blue Wave"

Image size 24" x 60"

Encaustic

This may look familiar to you.  I did the same painting about 6 months ago in a different size ( 24" x 48" ).  A client came into the gallery that shows my encaustics and loved the painting but wanted it a bit longer.

Reproducing the painting was not easy.  Encaustic has so many layers of color and because I had added a glaze of white oil paint as I finished the original painting, it was really hard to figure out how dark I needed to make the colors in the new painting so that when I added the white glaze the colors would be the same value.  Also, because each layer is fused, the wax moves as it becomes molten so control is a relative thing. 

Below are photos of the two paintings next to each other. 

I made a few artistic changes in the new painting, but mostly I tried to replicate the original in color and feel.